Issue 2925 | Magazine cover date: 13 July 2013

13 July 2013

Issue 2925

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On the cover

Features

The strange ape that's rewriting our family tree

News

Cockatoo cracks lock with no prior training

Opinion

Why is the rich US in such poor health?

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Life

The strange ape that's rewriting our family tree

Features

Life

Voice almighty: Decoding speech's secret signals

Features

Life

Race to Mars: Who will be first to the Red Planet?

Features

Life

Vagus thinking: Meditate your way to better health

Features

News

Life

Cockatoo cracks lock with no prior training

Video: Clever cockatoos pick five locks to get food Pathetic human lock Need a locksmith? Call a cockatoo instead. One of the parrots in an experiment proved capable of picking a series of locks with no prior training. Alex Kacelnik and colleagues at the University of Oxford set a number of cockatoos a challenge: pick …

News

Space

Mystery radio bursts blamed on black hole 'blitzars'

News

Life

Starfish eyes are good enough to show them the way home

News

Technology

New language helps quantum coders build killer apps

News

Life

Zoologger: Hipster toad has weaponised moustache

News

Health

Wrap up warm to avoid heart attacks in winter

News

Life

Ethnic background influences immune response to TB

News

Life

WHO to decide whether MERS is global health emergency

News

Health

Singing in a choir is good for the heart

News

Technology

Why was Asiana jet flying so slowly before crash?

News

Earth

Lake Vostok may boast a thriving ecosystem

News

Earth

Fatal train wreck fuels debate over oil transport

News

Life

UK proposes piggy-backing to search for alien signals

News

Technology

Quantum version of Nazi Enigma machine is uncrackable

News

Technology

Rice-husks could make much longer-lasting batteries

News

Earth

Brightening the clouds touted as a way to save corals

News

Environment

60 Seconds

News

Life

First baby born after full genetic screening of embryos

News

Physics

Musical argon is most accurate thermometer ever

News

Earth

Stutters in Earth's spin change day length

News

Health

Why cancer protects from Alzheimer's and vice versa

News

Earth

The wonder year: Why 1978 was the best year ever

News

Earth

UK's industrial badlands are surprise ecology hotspots

News

Time-lapse map shows DNA development in growing brain

News

Technology

Musicians jam long-distance on superfast networks

News

Technology

Cars that look around to work out where they are

News

Technology

One Per Cent

News

Space

Sun's cosmic ray shadow is solar storm predictor

News

Technology

Sensitive piano keys let pianists create new sounds

News

Technology

Why storm winds turned wind turbine into a fireball

News

Opinion

Health

Why is the rich US in such poor health?

In the wake of a startling report highlighting the US's poor health compared with other wealthy nations, its study director searches for answers

Opinion

Life

Designing for microscopic life in the great indoors

Opinion

Life

Designer babies are on the horizon but aren't here yet

Opinion

Earth

Bring back the spirit of '78

Opinion

Physics

For ultra-precise measures, go for nature's constants

Opinion

Analysis

Technology

Bitcoin sells out as big business moves in

The virtual currency has reached a critical new stage in its evolution – and is about to become almost respectable

News

Aperture

Space

Ultimate moon shot reveals the sun's flare

(Image: Miloslav Druckmuller, Peter Aniol, Martin Dietzel, Vojtech Rusin/Science Faction/Corbis) EERIE at best, terrifying at worst, this 2009 solar eclipse was a monster. Maximum totality – when the sun is completely covered by the moon – in this case lasted a whopping 6.6 minutes, and won't be repeated on such a scale until 2132 . …

Regulars

Features

Life

The strange ape that's rewriting our family tree

The story of our evolution seemed clear. But a string of recent discoveries in Africa is forcing us to radically rethink it

Features

Life

Voice almighty: Decoding speech's secret signals

Features

Life

Race to Mars: Who will be first to the Red Planet?

Features

Life

Vagus thinking: Meditate your way to better health

Features

Culturelab

Life

Kew lays on a feast of fruit and veg for eyes and mind

Bompas and Parr with their pineapple surprise (Image: Bompas & Parr) IncrEdibles: A voyage through surprising edible plants , Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, until 3 November You are what you eat, but how much do you know about what you consume? IncrEdibles, a newly opened festival at London's Kew Gardens, is designed to put …

CultureLab

Life

Control sex for humanity's future

CultureLab

Free online MIT courses are an education revolution

Online learning is the biggest shake-up of education since the advent of the printing press, says Anant Agarwal , an MIT computing specialist You run edX . What exactly is it? EdX is a massive open online course (MOOC) venture founded last year by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We offer free …

Careers

Enigma Number 1757

Regulars

Technology

Bag your dream job with a little help from an avatar

Careers

Regulars

Feedback: The mark of the barcode

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more The mark of the barcode WHEN we considered conspiracy theory trends on 13 April , we unaccountably failed to mention barcodes, a major subject of scare stories over several decades. In chapter 13, verse 17 of the Bible's very strange …

Regulars

This week's magazine

13 July 2013

On the cover

Life

The strange ape that's rewriting our family tree

Life

Voice almighty: Decoding speech's secret signals

Life

Race to Mars: Who will be first to the Red Planet?

Life

Vagus thinking: Meditate your way to better health

Table of contents

News

Life

Cockatoo cracks lock with no prior training

Space

Mystery radio bursts blamed on black hole 'blitzars'

Life

Starfish eyes are good enough to show them the way home

Technology

New language helps quantum coders build killer apps

Life

Zoologger: Hipster toad has weaponised moustache

Health

Wrap up warm to avoid heart attacks in winter

Life

Ethnic background influences immune response to TB

Life

WHO to decide whether MERS is global health emergency

Health

Singing in a choir is good for the heart

Technology

Why was Asiana jet flying so slowly before crash?

Earth

Lake Vostok may boast a thriving ecosystem

Earth

Fatal train wreck fuels debate over oil transport

Life

UK proposes piggy-backing to search for alien signals

Technology

Quantum version of Nazi Enigma machine is uncrackable

Technology

Rice-husks could make much longer-lasting batteries

Earth

Brightening the clouds touted as a way to save corals

Environment

60 Seconds

Life

First baby born after full genetic screening of embryos

Physics

Musical argon is most accurate thermometer ever

Earth

Stutters in Earth's spin change day length

Health

Why cancer protects from Alzheimer's and vice versa

Earth

The wonder year: Why 1978 was the best year ever

Earth

UK's industrial badlands are surprise ecology hotspots

Time-lapse map shows DNA development in growing brain

Technology

Musicians jam long-distance on superfast networks

Technology

Cars that look around to work out where they are

Technology

One Per Cent

Space

Sun's cosmic ray shadow is solar storm predictor

Technology

Sensitive piano keys let pianists create new sounds

Technology

Why storm winds turned wind turbine into a fireball

Opinion

Health

Why is the rich US in such poor health?

Life

Designing for microscopic life in the great indoors

Life

Designer babies are on the horizon but aren't here yet

Earth